“I need to warn you, though, that my colleagues aren’t quite as patient and understanding as they should be. I’m afraid you cannot be reconciled with your son until you agree to work with them and provide them with the information they need.”
It was then Hannah saw Mary for what she really was. Not a kind woman from the medical field tasked with caring for Hannah’s baby until this ordeal was over.
And certainly not someone who gave a tinker’s damn about Hannah’s well being.
No, Hannah finally realized that Mary was just another thug, not much different than the others. Maybe she had a sweeter face and a softer voice, a more soothing personality and a calming way about her.
But in the end she was no better, no more compassionate than the others.
The door closed, gently this time, not slammed as before. Hannah went to the plate they’d left her and ate in almost total darkness, feeling her way along with her fingers.
As before, there was no fork or spoon to eat with. As before, the drained noodles had no flavor added. They were lumpy and cold.
There was one thing different this time, though.
In addition to the cold oriental noodles was a fresh peach, of all things.
It seemed so out of place and unreal Hannah almost didn’t eat it. Almost thought it must be poisoned.
But then again, she reasoned, if they were going to kill her they certainly could have done it by now.
Once committed, she ate the peach with a maddening passion, savoring each and every drop, even as the juice rolled off her chin and onto her bare breasts.
And almost immediately her head began to spin, her stomach began to cramp.
She fell over so hard her head thumped loudly against the floor of the box.
But she didn’t feel a thing.
Chapter 15
Tony had an ominous feeling as he and Bud walked up the steps to the Department of the Interior building.
Bud was in slightly better spirits.
“Why so glum, chum?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just feel like we’re walking into a lion’s den, that’s all.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think they’re probably closer to bears.”
“Bears?”
“Yeah. Great big grizzly bears. Snarling, slobbering grizzly bears. Grizzly bears that could rip us to shreds with one swipe of their paw. Or tear us to pieces with their razor sharp teeth. Or…”
“You’re not helping, Bud.”
“I’m not? Shucks. I thought I was helping you relax and putting you in a better mood.”
“Not really, no.”
“Okay, let’s try this. Do you play poker, Tony?”
“Yes. But I’m not that good at it.”
“The only difference between a good poker player and a bad poker player is the cards they hold in their hands.
“And we hold some pretty good cards.”
Tony fell silent as they walked along.
They passed through the glass doors and went through a metal detector without incident.
As they retrieved their personal items from small tote trays at the far end of the detector four men in black suits walked up.
Seemingly from nowhere.
They’d never seen any of the men before, but they were obviously cut from the same cloth as the thugs they’d dealt with earlier.
And they’d obviously been briefed on Bud and Tony’s previous visit.
“Back again, gentlemen?”
“Yep,” Bud said without skipping a beat. “We like this place. Lots of windows. Lots of friendly faces. And you have a great air conditioning system. I’ll tell you what, no matter how hot and sticky it is outside, when you walk through those doors this cool air is just a kiss from heaven, don’t you think?”
The man ignored Bud’s efforts to charm him, bluntly asking, “I suppose you’re here to see Dr. Townsend again?”
“Good guess.”
The man huffed, mocking Bud.
“I very seriously doubt he wants to see you. But I’ll ask.”
“Just tell him we have something to show him that’ll make his house of cards come crashing down.”
The man left. His shadows stood at parade rest several feet away, watching Bud and Tony intently. Tony’s butt suddenly itched, but he had the sense if he tried to scratch it he’d be shot a dozen times.
He suffered through it.
He leaned over to Bud and whispered, “Tell him his house of cards would come crashing down? That’s pretty bold, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, maybe. But you have to admit it’s a pretty catchy statement.”
The man returned after a couple of minutes and said, “Mr. Townsend is in a meeting right now. If you’d care to wait, he’ll be with you as soon as he steps out.”
Bud smiled and channeled Curly from The Three Stooges as he replied in a whimsical tone, “Why, cointainly. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.”
Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
The men escorted them to an elevator which was locked in the open position, obviously reserved just for them. They boarded the car, released the emergency stop button, and rose several floors.
Then they were led down the same hallway they’d been down their previous visit.
To the very same waiting room they’d waited in before.
They sat on separate couches which were several feet apart.
Bud had explained to Tony on their first visit to the room, “They do that on purpose, so you’ll speak louder to be heard, and their hidden microphones can pick up the conversation easier.”
“So,” Tony said as they waited. “You never told me you were a fan of the Three Stooges.”
“Best comedy team ever. Most young punks like you have never heard of them.”
“My grandfather loved them. I used to sit with him all the time and watch them with him. Those were the days when he had all their routines on VHS tapes.”
“Ah, VHS tapes. They’ve gone the way of the dinosaurs, I’m afraid.”
“Yes. Hearing your impression of Curly brought back some great memories. Grandpa’s favorite was Larry, because the two had a lot in common. They both played the violin and Grandpa’s name was Larry too.”
“They were a fine team. There’ll never be anybody funnier.”
“Do you really think Townsend is in a meeting? Or do you think he’s up to something?”
“Well, anything is possible. I personally think they just wanted to put us in here so they could listen in and see what we’re talking about. See if they can milk any information from us when our guard is down.”
“I guess they’ll be disappointed to hear us talking about the Three Stooges then, huh?”
“I think so. In any event, they’ll come for us eventually. Townsend will be chomping at the bits to know what we have to show him.”
Tony sat quietly and daydreamed about Hannah, imagining what she must be going through and trying his best not to get angry.
He wasn’t the smartest guy in the world, but he knew getting mad and lashing out at the men who took his wife would accomplish nothing.
It would probably make things much worse.
Bud, used to taking an afternoon nap at his desk in tiny Norwood, Missouri, stretched out on the couch.
“Wake me up when the goons come back,” he said.
Tony thought he was joking until he heard his friend snore a couple of minutes later.
Then he was just impressed.
Impressed at a man who could poke a hornet’s nest, kick an angry bear, then just waltz right in to a lion’s den, yet be relaxed enough to drift off to sleep.
Chapter 16
Tony’s own eyelids were getting rather heavy when the door finally opened.
The agent in charge of the security detail peeked in and said, “Dr. Townsend will see you now.”
Tony shook Bud by the shoulder and said, “Bud, wake up. It’s time to go.”
Bud sat up and shook the sleep from his face.
As he passed the agent, he reached out his hand and said, “By the way, we never met. I’m Dr. Townsend’s worst nightmare.”
The hand was ignored.
He wasn’t amused; not in the slightest.
They were ushered into Townsend’s office. The four man security detail waited outside, but Bud was sure they didn’t go far.
“We’re moving up in the world,” Bud said to Tony. Last time we only rated three Keystone Kops.”
“Another fine comedy troupe,” said Tony, who was starting to feed off Bud and learning a thing or two from him.
Their loose attitude unnerved their host a bit, and Townsend stuttered through his first few words.
“I… I thought… I thought I’d seen the last of you two.”
“Hardly,” Bud responded. “You were such a gracious host the first time we just couldn’t wait to come back and say hello.”
“And to ask how your mother is,” Tony added.
Bud turned to Tony and smiled in appreciation.
Townsend wasn’t so appreciative.
“My mother, young man, has been dead for many years.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Tony responded. “I’ll bet she’s up there, looking down at you, very proud of the way you’ve been kidnapping innocent people and ordering others killed.”
Townsend ignored the shot across his bow and tried to redirect the conversation into something more to his liking.
“Why on earth would you think I’d have any interest in seeing you two idiots again?”
Instead of answering Bud looked at Tony and said, “You know, Tony, he really isn’t a very nice man. I think he’s hurt my feelings.”
“You’re right, Bud. He’s not a very nice man at all.”
He looked directly at Townsend.
“You’ve hurt my friend’s feelings.”
“Yeah? So what?”
Tony started to answer and Bud placed a hand on his arm.
“I’ll take it from here.”
“Go right ahead, my well-seasoned and rather outspoken friend.”
Bud turned back to Townsend and said, “You think you have us at a disadvantage. You think we’re a couple of rubes who will cower to your thugs and let you get away with murdering and kidnapping innocent people.
“You couldn’t possibly be more wrong. We plan to expose you to the world. We plan to tell the world about the secret you’re hiding from them at Yellowstone.”
“Is that all?”
“No, actually that’s not all. In fact, that’s just the beginning. We also plan to hold you accountable for the murders and kidnappings you’ve ordered, as well as any other crimes you’ve committed.”
“Fair enough. Is that all?”
Bud looked to Tony and asked, “Is that all, partner?”
“No. There’s one more thing. I want Hannah back, and I want her back in the same condition I last saw her. If you’ve harmed one hair on her pretty little head I will personally come back here and wring your neck with my bare hands.”
Bud winced.
Townsend smiled.
“Is that all?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Gentlemen, I am not responsible for kidnapping Hannah or Samson. Neither is my staff. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what secret you claim I’m supposed to be keeping, and I know nothing about any murders.
“Personally, I think the two of you are insane.”
“How’d you know?” Tony asked.
“How’d I know you’re insane? It’s perfectly obvious, don’t you think?”
“No. I meant how did you know my son’s name?”
Townsend was caught short.
So was Bud. Townsend’s blunder had passed right by him.
“You… you said his name yourself. You said you wanted him back.”
“I do want him back, you sap. But I never mentioned his name. I only said Hannah’s name. No one other than Hannah and myself know the names we’ve picked out for our baby. We haven’t even told our parents yet.”
Townsend was finally flustered enough to be done with it. He’d lost control. He no longer had the upper hand and he knew it.
“I think it’s time for you two miscreants to leave.”
Bud said, “There you go, hurting my feelings all over again. I really wish you wouldn’t do that.
“Well, since you’re awfully free in telling me what you think, I’ll do the same. Here’s what I think, Dr. Townsend.
“I think what you and your people are doing is a national disgrace. I can’t even fathom what your motives must be.
“Most government officials are corrupt so they can gain power or wealth. I don’t think that’s the case here. Is it simply because you’re afraid of what’ll happen when the public finds out that everyone within five hundred miles of Yellowstone National Park is going to die?
“Are you so intimidated by the thought of evacuating and relocating tens of millions of people that you’d just rather not do it? You’d rather look the other way and pretend you don’t know about it? You’d rather just sit on your hands and do absolutely nothing?
As he said the words he took a folder from his briefcase and a thumb drive from its side pocket.
“Before you have us thrown out of here you need to see what we’re getting ready to share with the world.”
He tossed both on Townsend’s desk.
Chapter 17
“Now what?”
Townsend picked up the paper copies and quickly reviewed them.
“This looks like more of the same garbage you had before.”
“Good boy, Townsend. You’re absolutely correct. We just wanted to show you that your thugs were sloppy. That they went to our hotel and found our thumb drive and thought they solved your little problem for you.
“But they stopped too soon, Townsend. They stopped before they found the rest of them.”
“The rest of them? How many more are there?”
“A few.”
“And have you released them to the public yet?”
“No. We’re going to give you a chance to release Mrs. Carson unharmed.”
“Did you really expect to just come in here and make demands upon us?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Bud replied rather nonchalantly.
“Apparently we’ve got a bit of a communications problem here.
“We are indeed making demands, because we’ve got something you want very badly. We’ve brought you proof that we’ve still got the Yellowstone Caldera data. Both on paper and on a flash drive. You want both, and we’re willing to give you both.
“After you release Hannah Carson and her friend Gwen. Once they’re returned safely, you’ll get your damn data. And you know where you can put it too.
Townsend wasn’t moved. In fact, he appeared rather amused by Bud’s words.
That worried Bud just a bit.
It unnerved Tony greatly.
“You’re not listening to me, you fool. If the data is out there floating around, so what? If someone finds it. Who cares? Unless it’s in the proper context, analyzed by someone who knows what they’re looking at, you have nothing but sheet after sheet of numbers.
“More people will think it’s a racing form or computer code before they link it to a hidden super volcano. You seem to have forgotten one minor flaw in your plan, Mr. Avery.”
“Oh, yeah? And just what is that, Dr. Townsend?”
Before he answered he called his secretary and instructed her, “Go ahead and send them in.”
As before, the door opened and security men walked into the office.
This time there were five of them. Apparently they’d climbed a bit higher in the nuisance food chain since they walked in.
“What you overlooked, Mr. Avery, is that it doesn’t matter if your papers and your flash drive are out there floating around somewhere. If someone in the news media finds them they won’t kno
w what they’re looking at, consider it worthless, and throw it away.
“In other words, without you two clowns out there telling them what it is, they’ll never know.
“And you two clowns aren’t going anywhere.”
For the first time, some of the security detail drew their guns.
Two of them.
One pointed at Tony’s chest, the other at Bud’s.
“Uh oh,” Bud uttered.
“Uh oh?” Tony countered. “What the hell do you mean, ‘uh oh?’”
The three men with free hands stood Tony and Bud up and placed them in handcuffs.
Townsend smiled broadly and said, “You two have been deemed threats to the national security of the United States under the Patriots Act. I hope you’ve said all your final goodbyes.”
This time it was Bud’s turn to send Townsend a message.
Most men, under similar circumstances, would have freaked out. They’d have known they were being taken to the scene of a “fatal accident” and that they’d be the victim.
Or that they were to be thrown into a cell for months, years, maybe the rest of their lives.
Most men would have looked fearful, maybe even terrified.
If that was the look Townsend was hoping to see on Bud’s face, he was sadly disappointed.
For Bud merely smiled a smile of Cheshire cat proportions. It was one of those “I know something you don’t know” smiles.
It didn’t please Townsend, not at all.
It worried him greatly.
He said to the man in charge of his security detail, “Take them to L Street.”
Neither Bud nor Tony knew what “L Street” was, but it sounded ominous.
Tony pondered briefly whether he should make a scene as they were escorted into the building’s lobby.
Perhaps he should shout, “Hey, these guys are kidnapping us!”
Or something else to make themselves noticed. Perhaps someone would think to call the police, and local cops might intervene on their behalf.
But then again, if one couldn’t trust the federal government why should they believe they could trust the local cops either?
In any event, it was a moot point.
They weren’t taken through the lobby. They were taken to a tiny elevator, barely big enough for their group, which took them to a basement parking garage.
The Yellowstone Event (Book 2): A National Disgrace Page 6